When Does the Camino Begin?

 

Some say the Camino begins when you walk out your front door. Some say it begins when the idea of it is born in your heart. That all seems a bit whimsical for me. I think the Camino will begin when I take the first step across the bridge in St Jean Pied de Port, and that won't be until Thursday. 

So what of these three days of travelling to get to that point? They're preparation, so perhaps a good opportunity for me to reflect on the preparation which came before my ordination 25 years ago. 

I began my seminary formation at St Patrick's College Manly in 1992. I had no idea what I was in for - nobody ever does if you're open for the Holy Spirit to do whatever God wants to do. We speak of formation, not of training for priesthood, because it's much more than just learning a few skills. It's the stretching and shaping of the whole person. 

Two really important areas of my growth during seminary were not on the curriculum, but they were things which I'd never done before, and which have become such a big part of who I am: running and hiking. 

Running became a possibility for me because of new preventative medication for the asthma which had hitherto held me back. And a fellow seminarian Chris Hopkins who took me under his wing and took me running, showing me how to pace myself, and worked up to doing the City to Surf with him. In my charismatic Catholic teenage years I and others had prayed that I would be healed of asthma. It took a bit longer, and while I still do get asthma, it doesn't limit me like it did when I was at school. 

And hiking came about because when I had the flu in first year Richard McMahon read me the first chapter of The Hobbit as a bedtime story and then left me the book to finish. Of course I went straight on to The Lord of the Rings as had been Richard's plan all along. When I finished the last page of The Lord of the Rings some 1500 pages later, I looked up and the world seemed magical and beautiful and I wanted to explore it, so much had Tolkien's prose seeped into my bones. I've been hiking ever since, of course, and re-read LOTR many times, including starting today as LOTR is the perfect accompaniment to any journey on foot. I'm more than half way through The Fellowship of the Ring. 

So back to today..... There's no fun way to spend 22 hours on a plane from Sydney to Madrid via Dubai, but it all went as smoothly as it could. I slept a little bit in 90 min segments over the Sydney - Dubai leg, and read to stay awake during the daylight leg from Dubai to Madrid. I can only afford economy class but a new luxury I have discovered is that for USD15 I could have a shower at Dubai airport and that made such a difference. 

It was more than a hour's bus ride from the airport into the city centre where I'm staying (complaints about the cost of Sydney's 10 minute train ride seem silly by comparison) but with the help of a friendly Spaniard on the bus I got a great guided tour on the way through. He was genuinely proud of the architecture and layout of his city, and rightly so. 

Once I arrived at the hotel I went straight out for a walk to get some sunshine to help re-calibrate my body into the timezone. Retiro Park is only a few minute's walk away and so a lovely way to spend an hour even in the 35 degree heat. 

The sun is still shining brightly at 8pm but at last I'm going to bed and will see how much of the night I can sleep through....